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It was Walter Burkert who first alerted me to the importance of the Orphic gold tablets many years ago in California – one of the many stimulating ideas for which I have to thank him. Since then, the relevance of these gold tablets for the understanding of Greek religion – those that were known then, as well as those added since – has increased to a degree which would have been unimaginable. The story of the discovery of these texts remains to be written. It is probably too early for a critical, annotated edition, as things are still very much in flux. Instead, we are eagerly awaiting new discoveries. But Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff's laconic comment from 1922 nevertheless still holds true: “This is all very strange.” This statement doesn't apply just to the classicist, but just as much to the expert in the New Testament, who finds many points of reference in these gold tablets that haven't yet been thoroughly researched. Burkert himself mentions that “the system of traditional Greek religion is being opened up by mysteries” in these texts, revealing “a deeper level of universal religious devotion.”

THE ESOTERICISM OF THE INSCRIPTIONS

For several reasons, the inscriptions on the gold tablets carry great importance for Greek religion. These inscriptions are among the few first-hand testimonials telling us about the religious experiences and expectations of an ancient cult of mysteries.

The paper discusses one of the key concepts of Paul's anthropology, the concept of the ‘inner human being’ (όέσω άνθρωποσ). According to recent contributions by U. Duchrow, T. K. Heckel, C. Markschies and W. Burkert, Paul's concept originated in Plato. The questions still open are: How did the concept get into the hands of Paul? How does Paul interpret the concept in accordance with his own theological anthropology? Answering these two questions is the goal of the paper.

When discussing commentaries friends have repeatedly suggested to me that the commentary genre is at present not the most creative format within which to work. This may or may not be true, but the enterprise certainly provides for some strange experiences. It has been my experience that things go smoothly as long as one does not ask too many questions. The present paper, however, is the preliminary outcome of asking too many questions about how to arrive at an ‘outline’ of the letter to the Galatians. Nearly all commentaries and Introductions to the New Testament contain such an outline, table of contents, or paraphrase of the argument. However, despite an extensive search, I have not been able to find any consideration given to possible criteria and methods for determining such an outline.

As early as 1906 R. Reitzenstein suggested in his study on “Poimandres” that the “holy word” spoken by the god in § 18 of that tractate comes from an older source. “Es sind Worte einer älteren heiligen Schrift; das zeigen die weiteren Zitate …” But Reitzenstein was unable to say anything more about this older source of “holy scripture” which he was suggesting. W. Scott firmly believed that the first line of the “holy word” came into the hands of the Hermetist from the Book of Genesis, but he was certain only about the first, and not about the second part of the quotation, where he thought the author “had in mind” God's covenant with man in Gen. 9:11ff. or the speech of God in Plato, Tim. 42a. Scott took the quotations in “Poimandres” § 21 also as insertions, but made no real effort to inquire about their origin.

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